The government’s new antitrust leaders have signaled a less skeptical stance on mergers but a continued focus on enforcement, especially in Big Tech and the health care and agriculture sectors....more
5/1/2025
/ Agricultural Sector ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Biden Administration ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Merger Reviews ,
Mergers ,
Trump Administration
President Donald Trump’s early executive orders have not specifically called out antitrust enforcement, but several impact antitrust agencies and could influence antitrust policy and enforcement over the next four...more
2/11/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Filing Requirements ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Mergers ,
Regulatory Freeze ,
Technology Sector ,
Trump Administration
Key Points -
- We expect the second Trump administration to take a relatively aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement, as regulators did during President-elect Trump’s first term, because there is bipartisan support...more
On October 24, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) succeeded in blocking the proposed merger of Tapestry and Capri Holdings, which would combine popular fashion brands such as Coach, Kate Spade and Michael...more
On May 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) jointly announced a request for members of the public to provide information that the agencies can use “to identify...more
6/3/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Mergers ,
Popular ,
Private Equity ,
Private Equity Firms ,
Request For Information
The Federal Trade Commission’s final rule broadly banning noncompete clauses between employers and workers, released on April 23, 2024, was published in the Federal Register on May 7, so the ban will take effect on September...more
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in a 3-2 vote, issued a final rule that bans noncompete clauses between workers and employers as “unfair method[s] of competition” under Section 5 of the FTC Act, subject...more
4/25/2024
/ Competition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Notice Requirements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition
On April 16, 2024, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina M. Khan announced that a special open commission meeting will be held virtually on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, where the FTC is...more
On January 25, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched an inquiry scrutinizing the investments and partnerships of Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon relating to growing artificial intelligence startups Open AI and...more
On December 18, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) released the final 2023 Merger Guidelines (the Guidelines). While the final version of the Guidelines reflects...more
12/22/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Draft Guidance ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Vertical Mergers
In July, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a draft of proposed new merger guidelines, 18 months after FTC Chair Lina Khan and Assistant Attorney General...more
9/7/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Draft Guidance ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Threshold Requirements
Short sellers make their money by publishing information that attacks a company in order to drive down its share price. How can a company prepare? And what should it not do in the face of a short attack? We offer some tips in...more
9/7/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Board of Directors ,
Corporate Governance ,
Delisting ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Foreign Subsidies ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Internal Investigations ,
Mergers ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Litigation ,
Securities Regulation ,
Sellers ,
Share Buybacks ,
Shareholders ,
Short Selling ,
UK
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a draft of proposed new merger guidelines today, 18 months after FTC Chair Lina Khan and Assistant Attorney General...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division — for the third time in the span of a year — recently failed to convince a jury that alleged agreements to fix or stabilize labor markets should be punished criminally. It...more
This edition of Skadden’s quarterly Insights looks at the rising number of de-SPACed companies seeking Chapter 11 protection, the growth of a market designed to assume legacy liabilities, an effort to establish...more
4/20/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Banking Sector ,
Capital Markets ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Governance ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Tax Incentives ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Holding Companies ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Innovative Technology ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Liability ,
Mergers ,
Patents ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Tax Credits
On January 5, 2023, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking under the FTC Act with far-reaching implications for U.S. employers. If enacted and enforced, the proposed rule would prohibit...more
1/10/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Labor Reform ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Notice Requirements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Rescission ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition
In April 2022, Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (DOJ) previewed the DOJ’s intent to more aggressively enforce the prohibition on interlocking directorates under...more
Takeaways - With increasingly aggressive antitrust and foreign investment reviews, directors need to be fully informed about the risks of deals from the beginning of negotiations. Boards should insist that management and its...more
Takeaways -
Under the Biden administration’s “whole-of-government” approach to promoting competition, a range of agencies outside the DOJ and FTC have been asked to use their authority to reform markets.
Wide-ranging...more
On November 18, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 4-0 to adopt a new policy statement outlining the commission’s plans to expand its criminal referral program in an effort to prevent and deter corporate crime...more
12/3/2021
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Criminal Antitrust Litigation ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Merger Agreements ,
Merger Controls ,
Policy Statement
To stay ahead of the feds, companies need to monitor their own data for possible compliance problems. Congress may soon give companies better visibility into their shareholder bases, including derivatives positions.
In this...more
10/8/2021
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Biden Administration ,
Board of Directors ,
Books & Records ,
Competition ,
Corporate Governance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Horizontal Merger Guidelines ,
Mergers ,
Section 220 Request ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In a September 22, 2021, memorandum to staff, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan formally laid out her “Vision and Priorities for the FTC,” reaffirming her calls for broad antitrust enforcement organized around...more
Over the course of his first six months in office, President Joe Biden has signaled a clear commitment to reinvigorate antitrust enforcement. On July 9, 2021, he took his most specific and comprehensive action on the subject...more
As anticipated, on June 15, 2021, the U.S. Senate confirmed Lina Khan’s appointment to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Unexpectedly, within hours of her confirmation, President Joe Biden named her FTC chair. Ms. Khan...more
A mostly forgotten statute barring competitors from having representatives on each other’s boards could be used by regulators if pressure builds for antitrust enforcement in the tech industries....more